Rosie

What a day!

Hi there. Hope you had a good Father’s Day. Ours was nice. Low-key but fun.

After we all went to brunch nearby, we came back home because today was actually a school day.

Well…for the girls it was.

Yup, Rosie and Marnie had wand training. Connor is teaching a class for cats and dogs on how to become better spellcasters.

Rosie, of course, is overachieving as usual.

After a few hours of high-intensity wand training, we all had lunch outside.

It was fun!

The girls are really enjoying themselves in class. They can’t wait for day two tomorrow!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tabs

We’ve had grillin’ on our minds here at Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC.

And, yup, I did the monthly summer maintenance on my tabby’s favorite grill.

We had so many good times using that grill… As you know, Tabs was a virtuoso at the grill, and every summer weekend, company HQ was filled with his friends, family and business associates, most of whom were cats, but occasionally there’d be an important canine or human.

He just loved entertaining…although I also think he liked gluttony, too. (Bottom line, you could not keep that cat away from a perfectly braised hunk of meat.)

Man, I sure do miss his brisket…

Of course, grilling wasn’t his only outdoor interest. Mostly, he just liked being outside.

Rosie

Although we all know Rosie is a workaholic, she also enjoys sunny weather.

I’ve gotten to spend some time in the great outdoors with her this spring, and I’ve come to learn that she really likes barbecues and leisurely picnics.

I do have to repeatedly encourage her to socialize, though, because I think if she had her way, she’d rather explore nature solo. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Man, Spring has been serious business ’round these parts lately.

I mean, I’m just saying. The new employee, a.k.a. Marnie the Aussie Shepherd, a.k.a. The Dog, is still in training, and whoo! — what a hoot that has been. She’s been a great addition to the team — don’t get me wrong — but she’s still clearly a trainee.

I wish Tabs were still around to conduct her training because I don’t always know what I’m doing. Tabs, on the other paw, always knew what he was doing.

He was always very professional…except when he wasn’t. 😊

How has your spring been going? What have you been up to?

Things have been pretty good out here, except — and it’s a big one — for my allergies! Seriously, I’ve had the worst seasonal allergies I’ve ever had! Half the time I can’t tell if it’s an allergy attack or a cold.

But it’s almost summer, so the pollen should subside pretty soon.

Rosie

Rosie hopes you had a good weekend.

What did you get up to? We didn’t do a whole lot ourselves. We did battle the crowds at Costco today, which is always an adventure, especially on a Sunday.

Remind me not to do that again. 😹

Rosie also hopes you have a great week.

Talk to you soon.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

As you know, cats have been strong supporters of the U.S. Armed Forces since before the American Revolution, providing logistical “lurvy” support to service members, veterans and their families, as well as providing volunteer pest control on bases and naval vessels.

A few years ago, before his departure from this earthly plane, Tabs designed and commissioned a special commemorative Memorial Day cat collar to show his support.

He rocked it, of course. 🙂

[Continue reading…]

It’s almost dusk here at Casa de MBB, and we’re getting cleaned up and ready for bed, but I still wanted to wish you a Happy Mother’s Day.

There’s so much to say about Mother’s Day, isn’t there? It can be an emotional day in many ways for many reasons, different for everyone. People have such different relationships with their parents and their children and all of the creatures they care for, and life is fleeting. We all lose our care givers and loved ones someday, and days like today mean different things to all of us at different times in our lives.

I pray and hope your day was good to you.

Every Mother’s Day, just like every other day, I also think about Tabs.

Oh! — sometimes when I see an old picture like this one below, I tear up, especially on Mother’s Day.

I sure miss my special boy!

Rosie

As you may or may not know, Rosie the Magnificent has her own connection to Mother’s Day because she is…

A mother!

Happy Mother’s Day, Rosie.

This is one of her brood. These were pictures I took when she still lived with my friend, who was Rosie’s foster family in 2019. It was a few months after Tabs crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and I missed being around cats. Visiting Rosie and getting to know her helped me with my grief.

These pics were taken shortly after Rosie had kittens, and I really got to see how caring and sweet she was.

Rosie did a great job, and all of her kittens were adopted.

Over those months in 2019, Rosie’s loving nature guided me to open up my heart to a feline friend again, and now she’s a member of our family.

Happy Mother’s Day, Rosie, and to you as well. ❤️

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

There’s a new girl in town…and her name is Marnie Marie.

Marnie for short.

I mentioned this a few days ago, but we took on a new boarder, or rather a new Aussie Shepherd. This was the end of our first week together.

Oh! — but before I forget, here’s a really cool story. A couple days after we adopted Marnie, we took her in for her first wellness vet checkup. Right after we pulled out of the driveway at the vet, I saw a familiar face on the sidewalk.

It was Marnie’s brother!

Yup, one of the team members at the Marin Humane Society was out on a walk with Marnie’s brother Rusty, who was still at the shelter. We pulled the car over, and they got to say hello. They recognized each other immediately.

Marnie is still getting acclimated to her new home, but she’s been a doll.

We’re taking introductions with Rosie slowly. Rosie has temporarily moved into the upstairs master bedroom, while Marnie lives downstairs. We did that for most of the week, and all has gone well. No barking or hissing yet, and because that has gone well, we’ve introduced the baby gate.

For a couple minutes at a time, we’ve let them get close to where they can see and sniff each other through the gate, and then we lavish them both with lots of positive praise and treats when all goes well.

So far, so good!

We’re taking it slowly because Marnie came from a home that also had a cat, but Marnie and her brother were surrendered back to the shelter for reasons we only partly know. We just know that it wasn’t a good situation for them, and they were returned.

Those unknowns, coupled with the fact that Rosie is a mature lady and doesn’t take crap from anyone… So we’re taking a nice slow approach with the introductions.

Hopefully everyone gets along.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Exciting times…

During a trip to the Cat Academy of Sciences in San Francisco this weekend Rosie had quite the adventure!

She fell over a railing into the tropical oceans tidepool exhibit!

When she was finally able to climb out, she found herself trapped inside a huge botanical garden.

There were so many wondrous sights to see.

Of course, she also found time to do some science.

Hours later, after being helped by a friendly turtle in the Amazon River exhibit, she found her way out!

Yup, she had quite an adventure. I hope your weekend was exciting too. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Spring couldn’t have sprung at a better time for Rosie. All the rain we’ve gotten lately has turned our little neck of the woods into fields of wildflowers and forests of happy oaks. It’s lovely outside, and this weekend Rosie couldn’t get enough.

Just in time for Earth Day!

She spent hours outside this weekend between multiple leash walks and spa time on the back deck in the Tabby Command Center, which made her very happy because, as you know, cats are solar powered.

I even picked her up once after she’d been sleeping out back in the Tabby Command Center and was shocked at how warm her fur was.

I think this might be the healthiest the plants in our front yard have been in years!

Even the dwarf orange tree we have bore fruit, which it doesn’t do every year (and the oranges were delicious!).

The rainy season is almost done, and summer’s right around the corner, so I know the green grass everywhere will soon turn to golden California hills.

The gold is beautiful too. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen